Rose Tint My Leap
by Fletcher Stanton
Summary: Sam makes a brief leap to a castle one rainy evening


Author's Note: Quantum Leap and Rocky Horror Picture Show are not mine. I do not make any money writing about it - this is purely for entertainment purposes, and not intended to infringe on anyone's copyrights.

"Here it comes again..."Sam's voice trailed off.As the blue glow of the Leap faded, Sam was momentarily blinded by lights overhead.Then the spotlight was turned toward someone else, and he saw that he was standing in front of the curtains of a dimly-lit stage.A quick glance around revealed that he was one of four people on the stage - two women, one of whom was singing, and one other man.

_At least, I'm pretty sure that's a man, he thought.__The lighting makes it hard to tell._

Wondering about his identity this time around, Sam looked at himself.And looked.He found himself in a black sequined merry widow, thigh-high fishnet hose and black high heels.The fact that the others on the stage, the man included, were similarly dressed did nothing to quell his unease.

As Sam stood there, torn between wanting Al there to help him and relief that he wasn't there to see Sam like this, the curtains opened behind him, revealing a dark-haired man spotlighted at rear center stage.He was also in a merry widow, but his was red, and he wore a long, black feather boa and two long gloves, one fishnet, the other gold-sequined.Also, from what Sam could see, his make-up was different from the rest.Theirs (and, he assumed, his own) was mask-like, while the newcomer's looked like he was trying to pass for a woman, albeit an extremely overly made-up one.

_ _

_I don't know what kind of show this is, Sam thought fervently, __but I hope it's over soon._

There was a misty area between the newcomer and the rest of the cast, too thick for Sam to see the rest of the stage clearly.The man at center stage had started singing, and was walking to the front of the stage, when suddenly he jumped into the mist, which cleared away to reveal an elaborate swimming pool.Clueless as to what to do next, Sam watched the others for cues and hoped that he didn't look as stupid as he felt.One of the women noticed him watching her, and returned his gaze lustily, licking her lips.Sam blushed furiously and tried to ignore her, glad that the heavy make-up hid his reaction.

_Maybe having Al here wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought.__At least then I'd know something about why I'm here.And who I am.And how I was supposed to react to that._

As if on cue, the Imaging Chamber door whooshed open, and Al stepped through.He looked stunned for a moment by Sam's appearance, then grinned suggestively.

"Nice legs, Sam.And you say my wardrobe is over the top."

Sam glared at the hologram, his embarrassment at the way he looked fueling his frustration.Something of what he was feeling must have gotten through to Al.He stopped pretending to leer, but couldn't contain his merriment at seeing his straight-laced friend in this situation.

"Okay Sam, I know you can't talk now, but try to listen.Your name is Brad Majors - yeah, you're a guy under all that stuff.It's 1975, and you're in the castle of a Dr. Frank"He hit the hand-link."N. Furter."He snorted derisively."What a name."He looked around for a moment, then pointed toward the man Sam had assumed to be the star of this bizarre production.

"That's the guy.We don't really have anything on him, but considering that a name like that can't be for real, it's no big surprise."

Sam started following the others toward the swimming pool, and Al tagged along.

"Anyway, what we do know is that sometime in the next 24 hours Brad, his fiancee Janet Weiss," again he pointed, "and the rest of the people on stage are found dead in the woods near here.Cause of death seems to have been some kind of massive shock."

Sam had been about to join the rest of the cast in the water, but Al's words stopped him.Seeing Sam's hesitation, Al waved his friend on.

"It's okay, Sam, go ahead and take a dip.According to the autopsies, it wasn't an electrical shock that caused the deaths."

Sam reluctantly jumped in, and immediately became enmeshed in a kind of water-born lovefest - the others were caressing and kissing each other without regard.The whole ordeal was making Sam even more uncomfortable, which he hadn't thought was possible.He floated from person to person, trying to make as little contact as possible while still playing his part.The one positive thing so far was that he shouldn't have to be here more than a day.

"Don't dream it, be it," he sang with the others.Suddenly, the song went from a quiet, almost lilting melody to a fast rock beat.A small kickline was formed as everyone quickly climbed up the stairs and out of the pool, and Sam found himself trying to not only stand in his uncomfortable shoes, but dance as well.This was getting to be too much!

Then the singing began again, a chorus of what the lead player had been singing as they had left the water.Sam had been listening, so at least now he could do more than just pretend to be singing along.At this point another person came onto the stage - a man in a wheelchair.He too was wearing the seemingly obligatory hose and heels, and was kicking up a storm, making Sam wonder why he was in a wheelchair in the first place.One thing did make Sam feel better - from what he could tell, the whole production was pretty makeshift, so he shouldn't look totally out of place.

A loud sound and flood of light from the back of the small theater stopped the show.Squinting to see past the stage lights, Sam could vaguely make out two figures, one male, one female, and, if this were possible, they were dressed even more strangely than anyone on stage.The male, pale and balding, was pointing what had to be some kind of weapon at them, and talking to Frank.Sam listened intently, hoping to figure out what was going on.

"Frank N. Furter, it's all over.Your mission is a failure - your lifestyle's too extreme.I'm your new commander -"

_Mission?Commander?Sam looked at Al for help.The hologram shrugged._

"Ziggy's no help on this one, Sam.I'm gonna go to the Waiting Room and see if Brad can shed any light on - well, on any of this."There was a whoosh as the Door opened, and Al looked back at his friend encouragingly.

"I'll be back soon either way, Sam, I promise."His look became mischievous."I'd hate to miss any more of your act."Before Sam could make even a visual response, Al was gone.

Sam focused again on the situation, but if anything, it had become more confusing.

_Transylvania?Transit beam?Oh boy, I hope Al can figure out what I'm here to do - this is getting too surreal for me._

Now Frank was trying to explain something to the two people offstage, and for some reason he had decided that the best way to do so was through song.Surprisingly, he was actually moved by Frank's song.Unfortunately, the "new commander" and his companion were not as sympathetic.As they told Frank that they were about to kill him, the man in the wheelchair chimed in, identifying the weapon as some sort of laser.Sam couldn't stand by and wait for Al any longer.

"You mean you're going to kill him?"He asked the man with the laser."What's his crime?"

It was the wheelchair-bound Dr. Scott who answered."You saw what happened to Eddie - society must be protected."

Sam was about to object when Al suddenly reappeared, waving his hands to get Sam's attention..

"Don't say anything, Sam."He said urgently."I think that's what got Brad into trouble the first time around.I wasn't able to get much more from him than I could from Ziggy, but from what I can tell, he's the type to mouth off and get everyone killed.Anyhow, just keep quiet, let somebody else do the talking, and everything should be okay."

Sam tried to take his friend's advice, but the situation made it impossible.He couldn't just stand by and watch someone be executed!He was about to speak up when the woman at one of the spotlights beat him to it.As soon as she started talking, he felt the inner signal that meant he was about to Leap.

_I guess Al was right - this time I was here to do nothing._

He gave the Observer a meaningful look to let him know their time here was mercifully over, then sent out a brief prayer as he welcomed the flash of blue.

_If I can't Leap home, could I at least Leap somewhere normal?_


End file.
